Hair drier



A. L. BUNTING Feb. 12, 1952 HAIR DRIER 2 SHEE-TSSHEET 1 Filed Feb. 12. 1951 INVENTOR.

#1455271. BU/VT/A/G BY WWWVW Feb. 12, 1952 BUNTING I 2,585,735

HAIR DRIER Filed Feb. 12, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 IN V EN TOR.

wwyww Patented Feb. 12, 1952 HAIR DRIER Albert L. Bunting, Dearborn, Mich., assignor to Specdryer, Inc., Detroit, Mich, a corporation.

of Michigan Application February 12, 1951, Serial No. 210,590

V 12 Claims.

This invention relates to hair drying apparatus and refers more particularly to improvements in hair driers cf the cap type.

It is an object of this invention to force dry hair with a cap characterized in that the several parts thereof, including the power means, are self-contained; or in other words, form a unit requiring no connection whatsoever with an outside or separate power source. Thus movement of the user during the drying operation is not restricted in any way, and the cap may be used effectively in practically any locality regardless of the availability of utilities.

In accordance with this invention air is forcibly drawn through the cap by flowing fluid under pressure through a jet-type passage having a reduced pressure chamber communicating with the space between the cap and hair of the user. The fluid under pressure is supplied by a replaceable cartridge removably supported on the cap by a holder having provision for piercing the cartridge as the latter is installed on the holder.

With the above in View it is another object of this invention to provide the cap with a flexible membrane adapted to cover the hair to be dried, and being sufficiently flexible to collapse toward the hair in response to the reduction in pressure caused by flow of fluid under pressure through the jet tube; With such an arrangement the major volume of the air drawn through the cap is restricted to passage in close proximity to the scalp. Thus for a given volume of air drawn through the cap a greater amount passes through the interstices naturally present in the mass of hair and a lesser amount Of air passes over the top of the mass of hair. Consequently the hair drying'time is reduced to a minimum.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a hair drying cap of the above type which is extremely light in weight, and is composed of a relatively fewsimple parts capable of being inexpensively manufactured on a production basis.

The foregoing as well as other objects will be made more apparent as this description proceeds, especially when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a hair drying cap embodying the features of this invention and showing the same applied to the head Figure 7 is a fragmentary,elevational view of a part of the construction shown in Figure 1.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, it will be noted that the numeral I0 designates .a hair drying cap having a rigid part II shaped of the body part II is open to freely receive the head of a user, and the front portion I2 is cut away to extend over the forehead above the eyes of theuser.

The bottom edge of the body part II has a flexible ring-like strip l3 secured thereto, and this strip extends inwardly from the bottom edge at the body part I i. The strip l3 may be formed from a Wide variety of flexible materials, but particularly satisfactory results have been obtained by forming the strip I3 from a thin highly flexible plastic sheet. By following this procedure, the outer peripheral edge portion 14 of the strip may be heat sealed, cemented or otherwise secured throughout its extent to the bottom edge portion of the body part II. A suitable elastic ring 15 is preferably secured to the inner edge of the ring-like strip I3, and enables fitting the cap to a wide range of head sizes.

The cap or body part Ii is lined with a flexible membrane !5 shaped to correspond generally to the body part and having the bottom edge suitably fastened to the inner edge of the strip 13. The top of the membrane it has alocalized portion 11 heat sealed, cemented or otherwise secured to the adjacent wall of the body part II. The portion [7 of the membrane and the adjacent portion of the rigid body part II having registering openings therethrough which cooperate to form an air outlet l8 at the top of the cap.

Air is admitted from the atmosphere into the interior of the cap or membrane i6 through an inlet comprising a plurality of openings l9 formed in the ring-like strip l3 and spaced from each other around the strip. In practice it has been found that highly satisfactory results are obtained by proportioning the area of the outlet 18 and the combined area of the inlet openings I9 so that the latter area does not exceed five times the area of the outlet 18.

It has been found by exhaustive experiments that hair may be more thoroughly dried in a shorter length of time by flowing the air through the interstices inherently present in the mass of hair confined by the cap. In other words it is important'to confine the flow of air in the cap to some extent by heat flowing from the scalp,

and the ability of the air to carry moisture is increased. In the present instance the flow of air through the cap is confined by designedly forming the membrane l6, so that it possesses sufficient flexibility to collapse toward the hair or scalp of the user in response to drawing air through the outlet I8 from the interior of the cap.

In accordance with the present invention, air is forcibly drawn through the cap by a selfcontained device 20. This device is shown in Figures 2 and 5 of the drawings as having a casing 2| secured to the top of the rigid body part II over the outlet l8 and cooperating with the body part to form a chamber 22 which is sealed from the atmosphere. 'If desired the casing 2| may be formed of a plastic material compatible with the plastic used in forming the body H, in order to permit fusing the casing 2| to the body part II.

The casing 2| forms a housing for a convergent-divergent nozzle or jet tube 23, which may also be formed of molded plastic, if desired;- and extends axially through the front and rear walls of the casing. The jet tube or nozzle has a suction chamber 24 at the rear and an outwardly tapering expansion chamber 25 at the front end. The two chambers are connected by a restricted throat 26 extending axially of the tube. Referring now to Figure 5 of the drawings, it will be noted that the suction chamber 24 in the jet tube 23 communicates with the chamber 22 and outlet l8 through the medium of a plurality of openings 21 formed in the wall of the suction chamber 24. The arrangement is such that fluid or gas flowing at high velocity through the restricted throat 26 produces a suction in the chamber 24 sufficient to draw air from the cap through the outlet H3. The expansion chamber 25 at the front or discharge end of the throat 26 communicates with the atmosphere so that the air drawn from the cap is discharged into the atmosphere.

Fluid or gas under substantial pressure is discharged into the rear end of the jet tube 23 from a source of supply 28 comprising a cartridge containing a supply of the selected fluid under pressure. Numerous different types of fluid or gas under pressure may be employed. In general it is preferred to use a gas of low molecular Weight that may be liquefied at relatively low pressures, and which is non-toxic, practically odorless, inexpensive and noninflammable. Examples of suitable gases are halogenated hydrocarbons. Gases produced commercially under the trade names Freons and Genetrons have been used with considerable success.

Regardless of the gas employed, a replaceable cartridge 29 is provided for storing the gas under substantial pressure. For the purpose of illustration the cartridge 26 is mounted on the rigid body part I! by a holder 30 having a support in the form of a bar 3| suitably secured to the body part H in rear of the casing 2| and having a socket 32 secured to the front end thereof. As shown in Figur 6 of the drawings, the socket 32 has a rearwardly opening recess 33 into which the neck portion 34 of the cartridge is adapted to project. A nipple 35 of resilient material, such for example as rubber, is secured within the recess; and is-fof a nature to snugly fit around the neck portion 34 of the cartridge to form an effective seal.

It will further be noted from Figure 6 that a tubular pin 31 is suitably secured to the base of the socket 32 and projects centrally into the recess 33 through the nipple 35. The rear end of the pin 31 is chamfered to provide a knife edge 38 and a passage 39 extends axially through the pin. The knife edge 38 at the rear end of a pin is of a nature to puncture the sealed end of the neck portion 34 on the cartridge 29, and thereby release the gas under pressure through the passage 39.

The cartridge 29 is held in place on the support 3|, and is moved into the socket to accomplish the piercing operation by a lever 40. The lever 46 has ears 4| at opposite edges adjacent the front end thereof which straddle the socket 32 and are pivoted to the latter by pins 42. The ears 4| are also respectively pivotally connected to the front ends of a pair of rods 43 at points spaced laterally from the pins 42, so that when the lever 40 is swung downwardly from the position shown in Figure 7 of the drawings to the position shown in Figure 2 adjacent the cartridge 29, the rods are pulled forwardly. Referring again to Figure 6 of the drawings, it will be noted that the rear ends of the rods are connected by a transverse part 44 and provide a support for a socket 45. The socket 45 is slidably mounted on the support 30 and is engaged by the rear end of the cartridge 29. The construction is such that forward displacement of the rods 43 by the lever 40 shifts the cartridge 29 into the socket 32 wher the pin 31 punctures the neck portion 34 of the cartridge.

The released gas under pressure flowing through the passage 33 in the pin 31 is conducted to the suction chamber 24 of the jet tube 23 by a conduit 46 having the rear end anchored in the socket 32 in communication with the passage 39. The front end of the conduit 46 is secured to a fitting 4'! on the rear wall of the casing 2|, and communicates with the rear end of a substantially reduced conduit 48. The rear end portion of the conduit 48 is anchored in the fitting 41, and the front end extends through the suction chamber 24 to a position adjacent the entrant end of the throat 26. Thus gas under substantial pressure from the cartridge 29 is discharged at high velocity into the throat 26 of the jet tube 23. The rapid flow of the gas through the throat 26 to the atmosphere creates a reduced pressure in the chamber 24 which is sufficient to forcibly draw air into the cap through the openings l9 and to also draw air from the interior of the cap into the suction chamber 24, through the outlet 58 and openings 21. The air drawn into the chamber 24 is moved at high velocity by the gas through the throat 26 and expansion chamber 25 to the atmosphere.

As stated above the air drawn through the cap by the flow of gas under pressure through the jet tube 23 collapses the membrane |6 against the hair of the user. This membrane conforms itself to the irregular contour of the mass of hair, and confines the flow of air to a restricted space adjacent the scalp of the user. Asa result the air actually passes through the interstices naturally formed in the mass of hair, and the latter is thoroughly dried in a minimumlength of'time.

Actually the hair is usually thoroughly dried before the supply of gas in the cartridge 29 is exhausted, so that it is not necessary to replace this cartridge during the hair drying operation.

The cartridge however may be readily replaced by merely swinging the lever 40 to the position shown in Figure 7 of the drawings. This procedure releases the clamping action on the cartridge, and enables quickly removing the cartridge from the holder 30.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Apparatus for drying hair comprising a cap having a part adapted to be placed on the head of a user over the hair to be dried, an air outlet in the upper portion of the cap communicating with the space between said part and scalp of the user, an air inlet in the cap positioned to com municate with the space between said part and scalp of the user at a point spaced from the air outlet, means carried by the cap for forcibly drawing air into said space through the inlet and for expelling the air through the outlet, said means including a passage having a restricted throat and having a suction chamber at the entrant end of the throat communicating with the air outlet in the cap, a source of gas under pressure carried by the cap, and means for directing gas from the source through the suction chamber and into the entrant end of said throat.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 having a membrane supported by the cap in a position to extend over the hair to be dried and being sufiiciently flexible to collapse toward the hair in response to a reduction in pressure in the region of the outlet created by the jet of gas flowing through the throat in said passage.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein the outlet is positioned adjacent the top of the cap and wherein the inlet comprises a plurality of openings through the cap adjacent the bottom of the latter.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 1 having a suction chamber in the passage at, the entrant end of the throat and communicating with the outlet, an expansion chamber in the passage at the discharge end of the throat communicating with the atmosphere, and a passage connecting the source of gas under pressure to the expansion chamber and having a restricted discharge end positioned to direct gas under pressure into the entrant end of the throat.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein the source of gas under pressure comprises a replaceable sealed cartridge, a holder for the cartridge supported on the cap and having a socket for receiving one end of the cartridge, means responsive to inserting said one end of the cartridge into the socket for piercing the cartridge and releasing the gas, and a passage connecting the socket in said part to the entrant end of the throat.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 5 wherein the cartridge piercing means comprises a pin extending into the socket from the base of the latter and having a passage therethrough, and a conduit connecting the passage in said pin to the entrant end of said throat. w

7. The apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein the holder has means for selectively moving the cartridge in a direction to project the said one end of the same into the socket and into engagement with the piercing pin,

8. Apparatus for drying hair comprising a cap having a part adapted to be placed on the head of a user over the hair to be dried, an air outlet in the upper portion of the cap communicating with the space between said part and scalp of the user, an air inlet in the cap positioned to communicate with the space between said part and scalp of the user at a point spaced from the air outlet, means carried by the cap for forcibly drawing air into said space through the inlet and for expelling the air through the outlet, said means including a member secured to the cap part and cooperating with said part to form a closed chamber communicating with the outlet, a jet tube extending through opposite walls of the chamber and having an expansion chamber at the discharge end communicating with the atmosphere, a suction chamber at the intake end of the tube communicating with said outlet, a restricted throat in the tube connecting the expansion and suction chambers, a source of fluid under pressure carried by the cap, and a supply passage extending from the source to the suction chamber and having a restricted outlet positioned to discharge into the entrant end of the throat.

9. The apparatus defined in claim 8 wherein the source of fluid under pressure comprises a replaceable cartridge and wherein means is provided at the inlet end of the supply passage for piercing said cartridge to release the fluid under pressure.

10. The apparatus defined in claim 8 having a flexible membrane supported by the cap in a position to extend over the hair to be dried and being sufficiently flexible to collapse toward the hair in response to the suction produced in the chamber by the flow of fiuid under pressure through the throat of the jet tube.

11. Apparatus for drying hair comprising a cap having a rigid part shaped to receive the head of a user, a flexible membrane within said part and adapted to cover the hair to be dried, the flexible membrane having a portion at the top fixed to the adjacent portion of the rigid part and said portions being apertured to provide an outlet, the flexible membrane also havin the portion at the bottom fixed to the part adjacent the lower edge of the latter and having an air inlet in said bottom portion, the remaining portions of the membrane being free from connection with said part and said membrane being sufficiently flexible to collapse against the hair in response to drawing air through the space between the membrane and hair from the inlet to the outlet, and means, carried by the cap for forcibly drawing air from the inlet and through said outlet.

12. The apparatus defined in claim 11 wherein the means for forcibly drawing air through the cap includes a passage having a restricted throat.

and having a suction chamber at the entrant end of the throat communicating with the air outlet, a source of gas under pressure carried by the cap and means for directing gas from the source through the suction chamber and into said throat.

ALBERT L. BUNTIN G.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,037,695 Brownlee et al. Apr. 21, 1936 2,295,824 Batsel Sept. 15, 1942 2,416,788 Andrews Mar. 4, 1947 2,441,138 Elder May 11, 1948 

